The most boring road in Canada

If you had asked me 24 hours ago what the most boring stretch of road in Canada is, I would have said it’s Hwy. 401 between Montreal and Toronto.

I would have been wrong.

The road from Montreal to Quebec City (Quebec being halfway to our summer destination, Notre Dame du Portage) is a total snoozer. It’s nothing but scrub and subdivisions. Few farms, no livestock and nothing to spark the imagination.

I put it to you, now: What’s the most boring stretch of road in Canada, and why? While you’re thinking about it, check out the beautiful cottage we’re staying at on the shore of the St. Lawrence River.

Exterior of the cottage in Notre Dame du Portage.The view from the downstairs deck.

I gotta go with the north shore of Lake Superior in 1986… I was 11, my 7 year-old brother was sharing the back seat with me, we had already been through the game box, twice, and there was NO radio reception. We were a mere 5 days into our 3 week trip and nerves were already fraying rapidly.

Nothing, but nothing was going to amuse us, especially not the site of more rocks.

I am compelled to agree with you. I’ve been saying it for years. From Quebec City to past Mississauga is totally draining. I can drive 13 hours to Halifax and have no problem. the other way and I’m falling asleep before I hit Trois Rivieres.

I’m told the secret to making the QC – Montreal drive less excruciatingly dull is to take the north shore, and then take the old highway along the river. It’ll be slower, but you’ll actually have something to look at (e.g. the river). You may just want to do that for a section or two.

The 401 east of Windsor towards London is about the worst part of the 401 — worse than the anything I’ve driven east of Toronto, though I haven’t driven the stretch from Cornwall to Montreal I don’t think.

But, out on the prairies… the Trans-Canada accross Manitoba and Saskatchewan and eastern Alberta. Yeah. Don’t go there.

We used to live in Bainsville, which is right between Cornwall and Montreal. My mom ditched the car at least once a winter along there. It would snow and snow and snow, so bad she was navigating by hydro poles — if she could stay between them, she was probably still on the road. Without fail, the weather would clear up as soon as we hit the turnoff for Bainsville.

And, ah, the Prairies! I love the Prairies so hard. I know everyone finds them so very boring, but I get there and I feel like I’ve come home. I’ve never lived out West, so I’m not sure what it is, but I could drive there forever.